Doorknob attaching device



Feb. 8, 1955 s, sEGAL 2,701,735

DOORKNOB ATTACHING DEVICE Filed March 26, 1951 xmy' United States PatentiOfiice 2,701,735 Patented Feb. 8,1955

DOORKNOB ATTACHING DEVICE Samuel Sega], New York, N. Y.

Application March 26, 1951, Serial No. 217,550

6' Claims. (Cl.292348) This invention relates to a door knob and has particular reference to means for securing a knob to a spindle.

Although the invention is particularly described inconnection-with door knobs, it-will be understood that it may also be useful inv connecting other members, suchas the head of a hammer, to a shaft or spindle.

It is customary, in thehardware industry,.to secure, one knob of a door handle to a spindle by riveting, and to secure the other knob, after thespindle has been inserted through a suitable opening in the door, by screwing it. to the projecting end of the. spindle. The screws frequently become loosened, with the result that the knob falls off and the handle is inoperative.

Various attempts have. been madetin the past to eliminate the screws and to secure the knob by some other means. Notwithstanding the fact that these attempts to displace thev conventional knob. date back. at least as earily as 1877, as shown by Patent No. 188,946 granted March 27, 1877 to William Regan, none of the constructions proposed have met with sufficient commercial success to replace, it, and thedoor knob screwed on to the spindle is still being used most extensively. Most of the suggested structures have not been successful. either because they were too expensive to manufacture, or were not sufiiciently rugged to withstandthe strains to which door handles are subjected in normal use.

It is an object of the present invention to provide simple and efiicient means for securing a-door' knob to a spindle in such a manner that the securing means is not subjected to any appreciable strain inthe subsequent normal use of the door handle.

It is a further object of this invention to provide durable means for securing a door knob to a spindle in such a manner that the knob may be easily removed from or secured to the spindle without the use of tools.

A further object of the invention is to provide means for securing a knob to a spindle in such a manner that the knob may be readily adjusted with respect to the door to which the handle is attached, to prevent binding and to insure proper operation of the door handle.

Other objects of the invention will become apparent upon reading the following description, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawing, showing a preferred illustrative embodiment of the invention, in which:

Figure l is a side elevational view showing the door knob secured to the spindle;

Figure 2 is an end elevational view looking inside the door knob;

Figure 3 is an end elevational View of the attaching nut;

Figure 4 is an exploded view, partly in section and partly in elevation, showing the parts of the assembly before they are assembled;

Figure 5 is a fragmentary view, similar to Figure 4, showing the attaching nut positioned on the spindle before the knob is positioned on the spindle;

Figure 6 is another fragmentary view, similar to Figure 5, showing the knob positioned on the spindle before it has been locked in position relative to the attaching nut; and

Figure 7 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view showing the knob secured to the attaching nut.

In the drawings, the reference numeral 2 indicates a conventional spindle which is substantially square in cross section and is threaded on its corners, as indicated at 3. The end 4 is threaded to receive a knob (not shown) which is assembled at the factory and is rigidly secured to the spindle by riveting or some similar means.

In use, the spindle is inserted throughv an opening provided'inthe door to whichthe handle is to be applied, and an attaching nut 5, internally threaded, as indicated at 6, is threaded on the spindle until it is as close to the door as possible without binding against the adjacent surface of the door. The door knob 7 is then slid axially on the spindle and then the nut is rotated until the knob is locked in place on the attaching nut.

The attaching. nut 5 may be .made of any suitable metal and comprises a collar 8 having a recess 9 extending inwardly from its peripheral surface. A sleeve portion- 10 of reduced diameter extends. on one side of the collar 8 to space the collar from the surface of the door to which the knob. is to be applied. A neck portion 11, also of reduced diameter, extends. on the opposite side of: the collar. Theneck 11 is provided with an annular groove 12 arranged medially thereof. A pair of notches 13 is provided in neck 11 at diametrically opposite points. While it is preferred to have two notches 13, it is obvious that a greater number of notches, or evena single notch, may be used instead. Each notch 13 extends axially through the entire thickness of neck 11 and terminates at the edgeof annular groove 12 closest to the collar 8.

The, knob. 7 comprises an enlarged head portion 14 which tapers inwardly to a shank 15 having an external diameter substantially equal to the external diameter of the collar 8. The knob is provided with. a square recess 16extending axially thereof to receive the end of spindle 2. The recess 16 is counterboredv to provide a circular recess 17 adapted to receive the neck 11 of the attaching nut 5. A stud 18, or plurality of studs, depending on the number of notches-.13 provided in neck 11, projects from shank 15 of the knob intothe recess 17. Each stud or projection 18 is of slightly smaller size than annular groove 12 andis positioned radially from the other stud or studsto correspond with the spacing of notches 13. Each stud'rnaybe aligned axially with one of the notches 13 and the knob may be slid on to the neck 11 with the studs 18 moving in the notches13-until the studs abut the edge of neck 11 which defines the side of annular groove 12. The nut 5 is then rotated, with the, annular groove 12 moving around the studs18,

The inner surface 19 0f the shank 15 is recessed, as indicated at. 2.0-in Figure 7. A coiled compression spring 21 is seatedzinthe recess 20 anda pin 22 having; an enlarged head 23 is positioned in the recess 20 with its head engaging the end of spring 21. A bushing 24 fitting around the shank of pin 22 is then driven into the recess 20 and secured flush with the surface 19 of shank 15 in any suitable manner. The pin 22 is urged outwardly by spring 21 and is long enough to project beyond the surface 19 of the shank.

When the nut 5 is rotated with studs 18 in the annular groove 12, the recess 9 becomes aligned with pin 22, and the pin is forced into said recess by the spring 21. The engagement of pin 22 with recess 9 prevents further rotation of nut 5, and subsequent rotation of the knob rotates the spindle 2 to operate the latch of the door in conventional manner.

The knob 7 and nut 5 will remain in locked engagement until the pin 22 is depressed, against the action of spring 21, to permit rotation of the nut. When the nut is rotated to bring the studs 18 into alignment with the notches 13, the knob 7 may be slid out of engagement with the nut 5 and spindle 2.

It will be noted that since the recess 16 in the knob is square, and the spindle fitting into the recess is also square, that rotation of the knob to rotate the spindle exerts rotational force only against the edges of the spindle and does not cause any force to be applied against the pin 22. Accordingly, the handle structure is exceedingly durable, regardless of the dimensions of pin 22 which is purposely made small to give the knob structure a neat appearance.

Although I have described a preferred embodiment of my invention in considerable detail, it will be understood that the description thereof is intended to be illustrative, rather than restrictive, as many details may be modified or changed without departing from the spirit or scope of my invention. Accordingly, I do not desire to be restricted to the exact structure described, except as limited by the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A door knob comprising a knob body having an internal recess and an attaching nut having a neck fitting in said recess, a stud projecting into said recess, an annular groove in said neck engageable with said stud to prevent relative axial movement between said knob body and said nut, a notch in said neck providing means for ingress and egress of said stud relative to said annular groove, and cooperating pin and recess means on said knob body and nut preventing relative rotation therebetween, said stud and notch being out of alignment when said pin and recess are in cooperating engagement.

2. A door knob comprising a knob body having an internal recess and an attaching nut having a neck fitting in said recess, a stud projecting into said recess, an annular groove in said neck engageable with said stud to prevent relative axial movement between said knob body and said nut, a notch in said neck providing means for ingress and egress of said stud relative to said annular groove, a recess in said nut, and a pin projecting from said knob body, said pin being engaged with the recess in said nut to prevent relative rotation between said knob body and said nut, the arcuate distance between said pin and stud being different from the arcuate distance between the recess in said nut and the notch.

3. A door knob comprising a knob body having an internal recess and an attaching nut having a neck fitting in said recess, a stud projecting into said recess, an annular groove in said neck engageable with said stud to prevent relative axial movement between said knob body and said nut, a notch in said neck providing means for ingress and egress of said stud relative to said annular groove, said nut having a collar positioned in contiguous relationship to said knob body when said groove is engaged with said stud, a pin projecting from the surface of said knob body contiguous to said collar, a spring urging said pin outwardly, and a recess extending axially of said collar, said pin engaging the recess in said collar when said stud is out of axial alignment with said notch to prevent rotation of said nut relative to said knob body.

4. A door knob comprising a knob body having an internal recess and an attaching nut having a neck fitting in said recess, a stud projecting into said recess, an annular groove in said neck engageable with said stud to prevent relative axial movement between said knob body and said nut, a notch in said neck providing means for ingress and egress of said stud relative to said annular groove, said nut having a collar positioned in contiguous relationship to said knob body when said groove is engaged with said stud, a pin projecting from the surface of said knob body contiguous to said collar, a spring urging said pin outwardly, and a recess extending axially of said collar, said pin engaging the recess in said collar When said stud is out of axial alignment with said notch to prevent rotation of said nut relative to said knob body, said last mentioned recess extending entirely through said collar whereby said pin is accessible for depression against the action of said spring to permit relative rotation between said nut and said knob body whereby said stud may be aligned axially with said notch to permit separation of said knob body from said nut.

5. A door knob having a recess, an attaching nut having a neck rotatably fitting in said recess, an annular groove in said neck, a notch extending axially from one edge of said neck through said groove, a stud in said recess engaging said annular groove to prevent relative axial movement between said nut and said knob when said stud is out of alignment with said notch, a recess in said nut, and a spring pressed pin projecting from said knob engaging said last mentioned recess to hold said knob and said nut against relative rotational movement, 'said spring pressed pin and said last mentioned recess being so positioned relative to said stud and said notch that said stud is out of alignment with said notch when said pin is engaged with said last mentioned recess.

6. In combination with a knob having a recess of square cross section and a cylindrical counterbore, a spindle having a shank portion of square cross section positioned in said recess to prevent relative rotation between said knob and said spindle, a nut threaded on said shank, said nut having a neck fitting within said counterbore, an annular groove in said neck, a stud projecting laterally from said knob into said counterbore and engaging said groove to prevent relative axial movement of said knob and nut, a recess extending longitudinally of said nut, and a pin projecting from said knob into engagement with said last mentioned recess to prevent rotational movement of said nut relative to said knob.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 241,967 Gonne May 24, 1881 FOREIGN PATENTS 5,190 Great Britain Nov. 28, 1881 15 Great Britain Jan. 1, 1889 

